TORONTO/VANCOUVER Aug 26 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp
is eliminating its entire corporate development team
and more cuts are in the works as the world's top gold miner
looks to trim costs, three sources familiar with the situation
said on Tuesday.

The sources, who asked not to be named as they were not
authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Rick McCreary,
the development team's head, is leaving the company this week,
with some others on the team set to depart next month.

The corporate development team's main role was to identify
and evaluate assets worth buying. McCreary, a former investment
banker with CIBC, has led the team within Barrick since
2011.

A spokesman for Barrick declined to comment on whether the
company was doing a wider round of cuts, which the sources said
would be announced in the coming weeks. He confirmed, however,
that the corporate development team was being restructured with
some staff moving into other groups.

"The change reflects our focus on achieving operational
excellence across the company, with an emphasis on optimizing
our existing portfolio and further improving efficiency across
our operations," said Andy Lloyd, a spokesman for Barrick Gold.

Some staff from the corporate development team will stay on
as part of a newly minted business development unit, while most
others depart the company.

Barrick along with its smaller peers has been hurt badly in
the last couple of years by the decline in the price of gold.
Continued...